THE NEW SEA SHEPHERD’S SURVEILLANCE SHIP

The boat the article deals with is special. In fact, it will be the new flagship of Sea Shepherd, the marine preservation organisation which uses the jolly roger (the pirates’ flag) on its ships, with the will to use not only observation and condemnation to preserve environment. Sea Shepherd’s members define themselves ” eco-pirates” and they are used to strong actions, like whalers disturb and sinking, ships sabotage, nets destruction in the ocean. Consequently, Sea Shepherd is a debatable association, with many supporters (actors, companies and even Dalai Lama who invited to not use violence, of course) and just as many detractors (such as Greenpeace and the Japan Ocean Research Institute).

Last year, the association received a great amount of money from Postcode Lottery of the Netherlands, Sweden and United Kingdom ( Postcode Lottery manage some lotteries whose revenues finance charity works): the project presented by Sea Sheperd ” Stopping the illegal fishing in Southern Oceans” received over 15 million Euros, enough to built the eco-pirates’ “dream ship”.

Sea Shepherd’s CEO, Alex Cornelissen, found in Damen shipyards (Holland) the right partner after two years spent in searching for the best shipbuilder and project. The ship must have speed, efficiency, resistance and versatility: it must let helicopters land on it, it must manage tenders and other boats and it must host big crews. These days, Sea Shepherd is publishing some photos of the work-in-progress construction, which should be completed next September. The photos concern the laying operations of the aluminium superstructure on the steel hull. They reveal the very aggressive profile of the boat…